by the World Resources Institute.

A man walks above murky brown water near nickel mining activities on Kabaena Island, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Yusuf Wahil)A man walks above murky brown water near nickel mining activities on Kabaena Island, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Yusuf Wahil)

Exposure to these metals at the levels seen in the lab samples could lead to cancer, cardiovascular, kidney and other chronic diseases, said Kathrin Schilling, an assistant professor at Columbia University who researches molecular biology and reviewed the lab results.“If people on this island are using the river water as drinking water — which has higher levels of the metals — and then if they are also eating the shellfish and breathe the air ... you cannot escape basically any of the exposure to those toxic metals,” Schilling told AP.People play soccer as heavy machines operate at a nickel mine in Torobulu, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Yusuf Wahil)

People play soccer as heavy machines operate at a nickel mine in Torobulu, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Yusuf Wahil)The impact isn’t limited to Kabaena. Across the sea to the north, a nickel mine near the village of Torobulu pushes up against a tattered soccer field and nearby athletic courts.

The impacts and mining continue despite a March 2024 ruling by Indonesia’s constitutional court that small islands such as Kabaena require special protection from abnormally dangerous activities, including mining, as they threaten ecosystems in vulnerable areas.

But Indonesia’s government is still issuing mining permits for small islands, said Sayyidatiihayaa Afra, a researcher at Satya Bumi.“He said, ‘If you don’t bother them, then they won’t bother you’,” she recalled.

When a bear came near in later years, after her father had died, her mom was scared.“Everything was like pandemonium. Everybody was yelling, and all the kids had to come in and everybody had to go home. And then we stayed silent in the house for a long time until we knew for sure that bear was gone, ” Berg recalled.

For Van Nest, the provincial officer, the group he came upon that day was plenty safe from a bear about 300 yards (meters) away. He said the bear was “putting on a bit of a show” for the tourists.“This is a great situation to be in,” he said. “The tourists are a safe distance away and the bear’s doing his natural thing and not being harassed by anybody.”